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THE CHORUS 

E. D. Crandall, Chorus Master; F. S. Chase, W. F. Davis, 
T. G. Elliott, C J. Evans, W. F. Keene, A. G. D. Kerrell, 
Wm. Knowles, L. A. Larsen, A. F. Lawton, Mathevv McCurrie, 
John McEwing, F, S. Mitchell, W. P. Neilson, Geo. Purlenky, 
Guy D. Reynolds, Eugene W. Roland, Benj. Romaine, Dr. B. 
M. Stich, John de P. Teller, J. R. Harry, E. M. Moore, Oscar 
Franck, Mark White, Dr. F. W. Stapff, C. E. Anderson, T. L. 
Bolton, F. L. Button, Dr. H. P. Carlton, P. S. Carlton, G. E. 
Engvick, P. D. Gaskill, G. S. Johnson, J. P. Jones, E. H. 
McCandlish, Paul J. Mohr, M. L. R. Oksen, C. H. Oliver, 
Dr. p. M. Wuillemin, Harris Allen, R. L. Countryman, 
G. W. Ellis, E. C. Little, A. M. Smith, Austin W. Sperry, 
W. H. Ham, Dr. F. E. Wilkins, Paul Otey, E. D. Crandall, 
W. A. Mitchell, Robt. I. Lynas, R. B. Heath, Chas. A. Smith, 
R. E. Fisher, E. L. Taylor, Roy Smith, C. L. Parent, 
C. B. Pinkham, Dr. A. A. Arbogast, H. McCurrie. 



Stage Director PRANK L MATHIEU 

Master of Properties GEORGE E. LYON 

Master of Lights EDWARD J. DUEPEY 



Costumes designed by Herman Scheffauer, executed by 
the Mme. Jahn Co. Calcium Lights by F. W. French. 




THE SONS OF BALDUR 

An Ancient Forest of Giant Trees in the West of the 
Land of Midgard. Night, with the Moon. The Three 
NoRNS, shrouded in gray and holding gleaming shields 
are seen seated on three tall boulders. The faces of these 
rocks are graven with runes. Against the trees are fixed 
white skulls of horses and of oxen. Great shields of many 
shapes, and torches are hung up. Sheaves of spears lean 
against the tree-trunks. Armour and skins are heaped 
in piles, and logs are laid for a fire. A rude table is set 
on massive trestles. Near by is a great Chair. 

URD 

From the bourne of mist and gloom 

I come who command the Past. 
Life and the Fruit of the Womb 

Of Woman is mine at last. 
Nor ever the gods shall mend 

The mould in which Fate is cast; 
I devour Beginning and End, — 

I am Urd, old Urd, the Past. 

VERDANDI 

Verdandi sits in the halls 

Where the Feast of Life is spread; 
She plieth between the walls 

Of the unborn lives and the dead. 
The sunbeams a moment beat 

On the shield and runes I write, 
Where the night and morning meet 

Ere the mom is gulfed in night. 

SKULD 

I am the Future. I hold 

What Odin may never reveal — 
Or whether my years be of gold — ■ 

Or of bronze — or of steel. 



I hearten the king and the thrall, 
And my hollow shield upraise, 

Whence the joys and sorrows fall. 
And the Black or Brighter Days. 

URD 

O Sister of Days-to-be, 
O Sister of Days-that-are, 

O speak ! for your eyes may see 
The deeds that make or mar. 

VERDANDI 

thou who the Past dost hold. 
And thou of the coming years, 

1 know that the blight of gold 
Shall bring men trouble and tears. 

SKULD 

O Norn of the Frozen Past ! 

O Norn of the Biding Hour! 
Shall I grow and make to last 

Hope's happy, rose-red fiow'r? 

URD 

The Fates are we, and our years 
Bow gods and warriors low; 

VERDANDI 

We shape them to laughter and tears, 
And travail, weal or woe. 

SKULD 

Though the Good and the Evil cry, 
We heed nor loves nor hates, — 

ALL 

For the Good and the Evil lie 

In the web of the Changeless Fates. 



(A lightning flash, a thunderbolt, brief darkness. The 
NoRNS vanish. A large, flat stone is overthrown and Loki 
rises, the red glare of the underworld upon him. He is 
comely, but threatening. A thick serpent hangs coiled 
about his neck. He scowls upon the scene.) 



LOKI 



Lo, men meet here for Baldur's Feast 

And wassail rare. 
Me of all gods they love the least — 

My shrines are bare. 

But mighty power is mine that weaves 

Sorrow for all — 
I shatter joys and blight the sheaves 

Of lives that fall. 

The red-fanged Fenris-Wolf I rule; 

Hel is my world; 
The Midgard Snake in Ocean's pool 

In sleep I curled. 

And fast my monster Nidhugg gnaws 

The Ashtree's root, 
Till he shall rend with iron claws 

Man and his Fruit. 

Though I and all my brood be strong 

And wise and old, 
Yet greater might for strife and wrong 

O'er man hath gold. 

It thicks his blood with craft and slime; 

It blinds and sla3^s; 
It robs him of the Rose of Time 

And blots his days. 



So here this clump of cursed ore 

I fling, and wait — (A horn is winded) 

But, hark ! I hear a trumpet roar — 

The rest is Fate. 

(He flings the gold against the roots of a tree and sinks 
from view.) 

{Enter First Warrior with lance, shield and torch.) 

FIRST WARRIOR 

This is the age-old Grove for Baldur's Feast 
Long hallowed. Close the hour of his worship 
Is on us, yet my comrades roam afar. 

{He gives three loud blasts from his horn and listens. 
Three answering blasts are faintly heard from afar. He 
strikes his shield. Three Thralls appear.) 

Set swift the tables! for the warriors come 
To wassail and such comfort as the feast 
Yields after battle. Brim the horns with mead, 
Light fires and the torches, braize the meats ! 

{The Thralls obey. From the distance faintly sounds 
the chant of the marching Warriors, growing clearer and 
stronger as they near.) 

CHANT OF THE WARRIORS 

We come from the gory 

Death-field of the battle! 
Glory to Odin, Valfadur on high! 

To red Thor be glory, 

Whose hammer-blows rattle 
Breaking the helms when he storms through the sky. 

Valhalla! Valhalla! 

To red Thor be glory. 

Whose hammer-blows rattle 
Breaking the helms when he storms through the sky. 



O weary and wounded 

We come from the sharper 
Slash of the swords in the bondage of Gold. 

Let praises be sounded 

By skald and by harper 
For heroes that feast with the heroes of old. 

Valhalla! Valhalla! 

Le praises be sounded 

By skald and by harper 
For heroes that feast with the heroes of old. 

May Baldur the Golden 

Grant joy to the table; 
The light of his coming shall loose us from pain. 

This forest of olden, 

Red trees and the sable, 
Soft earth yearn to gaze on his godhead again. 

Valhalla! Valhalla! 

This forest of olden, 

Red trees and the sable, 
Soft earth yearn to gaze on his godhead again. 

(Enter, singing, the warriors, armed, and with torches, 
led by Halmar the Stalwart, Chief of the Warriors of 
the Westland. Wounded warriors are aided by their 
fellows. One is borne in on a litter. All group themselves 
about the table and fire, laying aside their arms.) 

HALMAR 

To Baldur's Feast and his immortal Wood, 
My comrades, welcome. Still the ravens call 
Their hordes where battle-meteors and white ghosts 
Glare o'er the carnage and the shattered shields. 
O, many a stalwart brother of our arms 
Now the Valkyries' stallions skyward bear, 
And many lie on Hel's too-starless shore. 
How many weary moons have fed us full 
With daily battles of the sateless swords. 



With watches, sieges and the flaming charge, 
With hunger, and the anguish and the glut 
Of slaughter! Now the golden gage is ours. 
Since we have wrested from the snares of Death 
Life and the Right to Life. Wherefore may Peace 
Sheathe our worn brands and Plenty bide with us, 
Plent}^ and joy and brotherly content. 
Here, ever when the twelve-month's pageants pass, 
And Summer and the midnight Summer moon 
Gleam goldenmost, haste we from fields of strife. 
From the red service of the thunderous Thor, 
Homage to yield to Odin's gentler son — 
Bright Baldur, god of Good and Happiness. 

SOOTHSAYER 

The Ash tree Yggdrasil grows dark and deep, 
And ever at its roots the stern Noms grave 
Our fates on iron — and ever at its roots 
Gnaws Nidhugg, Scourge of Man, Life's Canker- 
worm. 
O Baldur, sun-god of the joy of youth, 
Bide with us and sit throned above our feast ! 
Ere o'er the mountains of the mom thou raisest 
Thy blinding shield whence Day darts unto Earth, 
Bide with us for a little in the wood. 
Baldur, great Baldur, beam upon thy sons ! 

ALL 

Baldur, great Baldur, beam upon thy sons ! 

HALMAR {to Thrall) 

Bo}^ fill this drink-horn with the royal mead, 
And as the parched dust of battle-plains 
Drank the foe's blood, so, brothers, quaff you down 
Your bumpers ! and like blades that bit in flesh. 
So fall ye on the meats ! Our fathers joyed 
In glory of the feast no less than war. 



Like mountain fells they drank, like fires they ate — 
Drained at a draught tall tankards and deep horns, 
Ate bullocks whole and the fierce tusky boar, 
So shame sit on our helmets if we fail ! 

{The Warriors raise a Shout. Boars' heads and great 
joints are bronght in on trenchers. The warriors eat and 
drink. A horn is brought to the Wounded Man.) 

SECOND WARRIOR {singing and swinging his beaker) 
Fill high the beakers blinking 

With wine the brown hills grow! 
I sing the Song of Drinking 

Of rare days long ago. 
Drink! fellow Norse to fellow, 

Fill high the silver bowl 
With blood red wine and yellow — 

Skoal to the wine-cup ! skoal ! 

ALL {singing) 

Skoal to the wine-cup ! skoal ! 

SECOND WARRIOR {singing) 

Blue grapes of red October, — 

The year's divinest birth! 
When clouds roll cold and sober 

You warm our hearts to mirth. 
Drink! merry men of battle; 

Earth were a sorry hole 
Without the wine-cup's rattle — 

Skoal to the wine-cup ! skoal 1 

ALL {singing) 

Skoal to the wine-cup! skoal! 

THIRD WARRIOR {singing) 

In wine there is small pleasure; 
I sing the Song of Love ! 



Great Freya sends that treasure 

Pure from the halls above. 
Drink to the captive maiden 

In tents our spears control; 
With love her arms are laden — 

Skoal unto Woman! skoal! 

ALL {singing) 

Skoal unto Woman! sk^^al! 

SECOND WARRIOR {drunkenly, singing) 
Fill high 

(Halmar holds up his hand commanding silence. The 
Wounded Warrior, being about to die, stretches out 
his arm towards his comrades.) 

HALMAR 

Drink not to pleasure first, but to the gods ! 
Drink to your ancient fathers — they who rest 
With Odin in the vasty halls of light 
Where swords for torches serve and where the 

broad 
And golden plates fail never. Comrades all, 
Drink to the living, drink unto the dead ! 
And to the dying — to the dying — skoal! 

ALL {slowly) 

Skoal! Skoal! Skoal! 

{The Wounded Warrior raises himself, grasps his 
horn, drains it, flings it away. He seizes his broken 
sword, staggers to his feet and sings with growing force 
The Death Song.) 

THE WOUNDED WARRIOR {singing) 

The Song of the Dying! 
The Song of the Sword! 



Valkyries are crying 
O'er battle and board. 

The foe struck me sorest, 
But Hel hath his soul. 

O god of the forest — 
Skoal to thee ! skoal ! 

'Mid brands that were flashing, 

'Mid helms that were cleft, 
My red blade went crashing — 

Behold what is left! 
By Thor and his thunder, 

His battle-car's roll — 
O sword sprung asunder — 

Skoal to thee ! skoal ! 

O steel pure and slender! 

O bride I adored ! 
To me thou wast tender. 

My mistress, my sword! 
Thy lover lies broken, 

And thou art not whole; 
The dark Noms have spoken — 

Skoal to thee! skoal! 

The flesh and the fishes, 

The mead and the wine 
Give you joy, but the dishes 

Of gods shall be mine. 
The battle did break me, 

And Earth hath her dole — 
O Death-maids come take me! 

Skoal to you! skoal! 

Build the pile on the galley; 

On my shield let me rest — 
Let me make my last sally 

With steel in my breast. 



Farewell! speed his going 

Who nears the dark goal; 
The red brooks are flowing — 

Skoal to you! skoal! 

(He falls dead on his pallet, his sword drops from his 
hand. Pale flashes are seen across the heavens. Then 
from the skies are heard the calls of the Valkyries, and 
their echoes on Earth.) 

FOURTH WARRIOR 

The vault is blinded by the Northern Lights ! 

FIFTH WARRIOR 

'Tis but the flickering lance-thrust of the storm. 

HALMAR 

The armour of the Choosers of the Slain 
It is that flashes broadly to the moon. 
Heard ye not thrice their clear Valkyrie call? 

FIRST WARRIOR 

With silent hoofs their straining coursers smite 
The cloud-borne steps to Heaven. O happy charge 
They lift to bliss on Asgard's silver plains! 

HALMAR {to Dead Warrior) 

The warlike Virgins to Valhalla bear thee ! 

The Sword Death, not the Straw Death was thine 

own. 
Yea, thou art nobly fallen and shalt feast 
At Odin's table, thou shalt feel no more 
The racking of Life's struggle nor its toil. 
The red war-galley, winking with bright shields, 
Shall bear thee mailed in fire to daunt the sea 
From this West Shoreland to the Shadowland. 






SOOTHSAYER {to the Warriors) 

So parts he from us now whose hand was strength, 
Whose blade broke only to the stroke of death, ■ 
And in whose blood the West Seas poured their salt, 
And Westland suns their fire. True heir was he 
Of those bold fathers who in whilom days 
Came hither on a quest for fabled gold. 
Renown be his who falls with sword in hand 
In struggle with the endless ills of Earth 
And fell disasters from the Loom of Days. 

FIRST WARRIOR 

There let him lie, our brother, still our guest, 
Deaf to the wassail, and his silent form 
Shall fend from us the storms of ruder mirth. 
'Tis borne to us that Egypt's yellow kings 
Do at their banquets seat a skeleton. 
For Death sits guest within the House of Life, 
And tears do fall like rain on Laughter's lips. 

{They lay the sword of the dead man by his side and 
cover him with his shield. Three or four Warriors see 
LoKi's gold and pounce upon it.) 

SIXTH WARRIOR {hugging it to his heart) 
O gold! O wonderful, O godlike gold! 

SEVENTH WARRIOR 

'Tis mine! mine eye was first, though first thy 
hand. 

EIGHTH AND NINTH WARRIORS 

'Tis ours! a common and a fourfold trove! 

SIXTH WARRIOR 

Mine it remains ! 



SEVENTH WARRIOR 

Then speak! my tongue of iron! 

{He attacks the Sixth Warrior. The two fight, circling 
about, with' swords and bucklers. The others run for their 
swords and spears. They crowd around the fighters. 
Wild disorder and uproar. Halmar rtms forward and 
strikes up the blades of the fighters. The gold rolls to the 
ground.) 

HALMAR 

Hold! raging fools, set curbs upon your swords! 
Lest with mine own I wreck the ribbed shells 
That house your shameless hearts! What horror 

here! 
What brawls for dross and basest quarrels set 
'Twixt brothers in the heart of Baldur's wood! 
O crime to anger gods and sully men ! 
Shall your unboughten and strong steel of war 
Be smirched with vilest murder? Lo, the curse 
Of Loki and the glamour of his ore 
Hath wrought this wrong on us. 

SECOND WARRIOR {singing at table) 

Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! 

Let others fight for plunder, 
Good wine is more than gold! 

Go cleave your skulls asunder, 
Your skulls shall soon be cold! 

Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! 

SOOTHSAYER 

Accursed mass, 
Ember of Hel, as baneful as the mire 
In caverns of the gnomes! have we not poured 
Our veins to thee in slaughter-fields of Life, 
And felt thy yellow gyves through blindest days 
On hands that drudged for demons? Wilt thou drag 



1 1> 



Thy leprous bulk to bask amidst our joy 
E'en in this holy wood? Say, shall we lose 
Through thee the grace of gods and bloom of years, 
And thou who shouldst be slave, become our king? 

HALMAR 

Its lust is fiercer than the sword's — more fell 
Than ruthless fire, and fouler than the snake 
Its master Loki gat on Angerbode. 

FIRST WARRIOR 

It seems as sank a shadow on the feast — 

The meats grow cold and bitter smacks the wine. 

FOURTH WARRIOR 

It is as if across our hearts the frost 
Hath blown his arrows ! There is evil here, 

Halmar, and the gods are stem and dumb. 

HALMAR (to Thrall) 

Take hence the bane and fling it to the sea ! 
The Midgard Serpent shall it quell and crush, 
Or straightly plunge with evil things to Hel. 

(The Thrall goes out. A bird in the trees sings jar some 
time.) 

FIRST WARRIOR 

1 hear the songbird of the night again. 

And the sharp stars sit sparkling o'er the trees; 
The spell is broken and the curse departs. 

HALMAR 

Yet Loki is a strong and wrathful god; 

He works in outer silence and the dark. 

In spaces underfoot and through the winds — 

Baldur be with us! 



FIRST WARRIOR 

Not far lies Alfheim 
Where bright elves dwell and dance and woo the 

moon, — 
Children are they of Baldur and the day, 
Frail forms of light, and guardians of these trees, 
And ever friends to man. 

HALMAR 

The quarrel frights 
Them hence as storm winds drive the thistle-down — 
On with the feasting ! let no shadows thwart 
This blithe, unended merriment of men. 

(The men make merry at the hoard.) 

SECOND WARRIOR {chanting) 

Good cronies come a-hasting; 

Spill wine and spare your blood. 
The gore ye would be wasting 

The turf turns into mud. 

O leave the bitter treasure ! 

Here's flesh and sweeter stuff; 
Too soon our lengths we measure. 

And Earth hath flesh enough. 

{The Chorus follows. A Boy enters and kneels before 
Halmar.) 

BOY 

Hilding the Skald to Halmar greeting sends ! 
Would Halmar and his men of battle hear 
The songs and sagas of their sires, O chief? 

HALMAR 

His harp shall charm the glad elves back again — 
Go bid the Skald appear. 



n 



ALL 

The skald! the skald/ 

(The Boy goes out.) 

FIRST WARRIOR 

Hilding the golden-voiced skald is famed 
Through all the land of Midgard past the steeps 
Of utmost Iceland to the peaks whose throats 
Belch to the skies rash fire and oft-times mock 
The Gloaming of the Gods. For as he sang 
Of old unto our fathers so to us 
He sings. 

SECOND WARRIOR 

He knows the Song of Western Men, 
Of Love and Life, of Woman and of War. 

SOOTHSAYER 

Priceless to us the singer and his staves! 

His gift is of the gods and lends to us 

The ravishment that stirs the halls of Heaven. 

The tribes that love not song are steeped in night, 

And they who treasure not the skald are doomed 

For none without his word know after-fame. 

And were not Saga and her makers ours, 

Our deeds would perish — yea, all noble things 

Would in the black mxarsh of the world be whelmed 

And of their rays be shorn. The race of skalds 

Be honored ever in this Sunset Land ! 

For they do honor men and to their hands 

Give light that dies not ever. 

FOURTH WARRIOR 

Lo, he comes ! 

{Enter Hilding, the Skald, robed in white. He remains 



standing in the farther -firelight and salutes the Warriors 
who lift their hands in greeting. His Boy carries a harp 
on his back.) 

HILDING 

Through the cope of night unlifted 

Long with weary foot I strode; 
Past the trees red torchUght sifted 

And the owl through darkness rode. 
And each pillar, beam and rafter 
Of the forest rang with laughter 

Loud from Baldur's green abode. 

Unto Bragi grace for bringing 
Me unto your woodland rites — 

HALMAR 

Welcome be! White Swan, whose singing 
Gilds the world and stars the nights. 

(Halmar goes to meet him and leads him to the great 
chair. The Boy sets the Harp before Hilding.) 

HILDING 

Peace bide at your board, and pleasure! 
Joy and plenty in full measure 
And the Viking's deep delights! 

HALMAR 

Bring unto snow-haired Hilding, Halmar's horn! 

{A Warrior brings the golden horn. Hilding drinks.) 

ALL 

Skoal be to Hilding! Skoal to the Skald! 

HALMAR 

Great Hilding, skald in Midgard's Land belov'd, 



Sing us the Song of Wine, of Joy in Life — 
The Fountain pure of Youth that ne'er is sealed. 

ALL 

The Song of Wine! O sing the Song of Wine! 

HILDING (singing) 

O Wine! thou art gladness and glory — 

Thou art amber and blood in the bowl! 
To sad hearts and locks that are hoary, 
Thou bringest back youth to the soul. 
Thou art born of the sea and the thunder, 
Thou art Wielder and Worker of Wonder — 
Thou art Joy ! and thou breakest in sunder 
The fetters of care and of dole. 

Hail to Wine that lends life to the living! 

May the horns flow at table and shrine, — 
Unto Baldur be praise and thanksgiving 

For gift and for glory, 

For gift and for glory. 

For gift and for glory of Wine! 

When the blade of the Berserk lies shattered, 

Where waves of the battle rolled red, 
When the foe into darkness flies scattered. 

We mourn for our war-fellows dead. 
Then thou healest our wounds and our sorrow, 
Then thou girdest us strong for the morrow, 
Then from draughts of the wine-cup we borrow 
The blood that our bosoms have shed. 



ALL 



Hail to Wine that lends life to the living! 

May the horns flow at table and shrine — 
Unto Baldur be praise and thanksgiving 

For gift and for glory, 



For gift and for glory, 

For gift and for glory of Wine ! 

HALMAR 

Sing, Hilding, sing of Woman and of Love! 

ALL 

The song of Woman! sing the song of Love! 

HILDING (singing) 

O Woman! like snow on the mountains. 

When North Lights glow rosy and bright, 
Is thy bosom's soft slope and its fountains 

Of Love on the peaks of delight. 
When the clasps of thy white arms surround us, 
And the seals of thy warm lips have crowned us, 
In the chains of thy charms thou hast bound us, 
And Freya makes golden the night. 

Hail, V/oman! all honor be given 

To thine arms that enfold us with love; 
By thy smile all Hel's blackness is riven, 

And Valhall is brighter. 

And Valhall is brighter. 

And Valhall is brighter above ! 

When we dream of the wife and the mother. 

The tears of our yearning arise; 
When the true lover dreams of one other. 

His armour grows warm to his sighs. 
Then the steel of his bright helmet shows him 
The high-bosomed virgin who throws him 
The kisses and smiles that she owes him 



ALL 



When Thor crives him back to her eves. 

o ^ 



Hail Woman ! all honor be given 

To thine arms that enfold us with love; 



By thy smile all Hel's blackness is riven, 
And Valhall is brighter, 
And Valhall is brighter. 
And Valhall is brighter above ! 

HALMAR 

'Tis meet thy mouth of gold should sing the love, 
O Hilding, and the holy worth of women ! 
Vouchsafe us, too, the lofty Song of Song. 

ALL 

The Song of the Skalds ! sing us the Song of Song ! 

HILDING {singing) 

Lift the song that rings sweeter and rarer 
Than tongues of the wind in the wood; 
Strike the harp that binds stronger and fairer 

The links of our high Brotherhood. 
So the lips that are golden with singing. 
So the strings that are silvern with ringing, 
Over Midgard's deep vales may be flinging 
Their beauty for Baldur the Good. 

Hail to Song! whose stars die not, but glisten 

On the brows of the fair and the strong — 
All the gods throned in Asgard now listen 

To saga and story. 

To saga and story. 

To saga and story and song ! 

Thou art spur to the heart of the fighter; 

Thou are honey, and salt of the sea. 
And our feast for thy strains is far brighter. 

And far gladder the tent and the tree. 
Great Mother of Fame ! Bragi's daughter. 
Who art solace and balm after slaughter — ■ 



O, thou tumest to wine the dark water 
Of life and thou bidd'st us be free ! 

ALL 

Hail to Song ! whose stars die not, but glisten 

On the b]?ows of the fair and the strong — 
All the gods throned in Asgard now listen 

To saga and story, 

To saga and story, 

To saga and story and Song! 

HALMAR 

Hilding, we thank thee, yea, the gods we thank! 
For thou from out the earth in every heart 
Call'st forth sweet flowers from the idle seed. 
Wherefore, take thou — poor meed for thy rich 

song — 
This chain, these stones. 

(Halmar takes from his neck his triple chain of gems and 
gold and places it around the neck of Hilding. The 
Skald rises and hows his head.) 

ALL 

Skoal unto Hilding, skoal! 
FIRST WARRIOR {gazing anxiously about) 

Some wizard or some troll within this vault 
Has cast on us his hatred and his spells. 

HALMAR 

Perchance thy heart is harried by the ghosts 
Of strife that vexed the air, or Loki's curse — 
Yet are they fled — as evil flees from song. 

HILDING {starting from his seat) 

Alfheim's land is strange with stillness — 
Not one elf with shining wing 



^^ 



Drives afar this brooding illness 
That lies dark o'er everything. 
And the winds grow sharp and bitter, 
For I see no white robes glitter; 
Hear no silver elf -horns ring. 



HALMAR 



Fear not ! Lo, these trees are towers, 
And they guard our earthly dreams- 



HILDING 



Old were they when Earth's young hours 
Laved their crowns with crimson gleams. 

HALMAR 

They from Loki's craft shall fend us; 
Here no Fenris-Wolf shall rend us — 

HILDING 

Hark ! all Alfheim runs and screams ! 

FOURTH WARRIOR 

O hear ! across the glade a wailing comes. 

{Faint twinkling lights are seen amidst the foliage, and the 
flutter of the white robes of the Elves in flight. Their 
frail voices are heard in wails.) 

VOICES OF THE ELVES 

O flee ! O flee ! dread are the feet that near ! 

{The lights and voices pass.) 

FIRST WARRIOR 

The elves rush by! — their wands of moon- white fire 
They wave, and fly from wolves of fright unknown, 
And the calm owls and eagles answer them. 



HALMAR 

Ever these gentle sprites have blessed our grove — 
Alas ! they leave us now when song is done. 
It it that Loki's hate hath scared them hence? 
Hath Baldur left his sons ? 

SECOND WARRIOR 

The feast be sped ! 
And halt not — yea, though devils seek to thwart 
Our goodly rites and cheer! the feast be sped! 

(The Black Elves are heard hissing and yelling with 
laughter in the wood. They pursue the White Elves 
with lurid torches.) 

FOURTH WARRIOR 

Lok's squat and thrice-damn'd imps, the Elves of 

Night, 
Hound from the wood the kindly fays that guard 
Our revels by the fires. 

{The Western skies begin to glow faintly with a dull and 
evil-boding red.) 

FIRST WARRIOR 

O see! the skies 
Above the Western mountain-crest are struck 
To wrath! 

FIFTH WARRIOR 

Now march the fires of Muspelheim 
Bent fiercely 'gainst our lives ! they come to claim 
Their prey of man and tree. 

FOURTH WARRIOR 

'Tis but the light 
Flung sheer from the fire-beard of raging Thor 



Athwart the clouds. For now his swift rams draw 
His car in thunder o'er the smoking Pole 
In battle 'gainst the Giants of the Mist. 

SECOND WARRIOR 

O fools! 'tis dawn, for moon and stars are dead. 

SOOTHSAYER 

Not Muspel's fires nor Thor's red slaughter-locks, 
Nor dawn, nor day, that from the mountain spines 
Flames up the welkin to destroy the world. 
It is the End-all and the Night of Things! 
The spawn of Time roars cloud ward to Valhall, 
And the Earth-spanning rainbow falls to wreck 
'Neath giants' feet. This day, O men, the Earth 
And all the dead heavens shall be made anew — 
'Tis Ragnarok — the Twilight of the Gods! 

(A groan goes up. The glow grows brighter.) 

ALL 

woe upon us! we that came for joy! 

HALMAR 

On the hoar mountain side by thunder carved, 
Slope to the fjord black where sea-hawks nest, 

1 read in youth the runes that cannot lie — 
And true it is that Ragnarok hath come. 

ALL {in monotone) 

O Baldur! O shield us! 

HALMAR 

Heimdal's faithful horn 
Now clamors through Valhalla and the throne 
Of Odin sinks in ruin and his halls 
Stand bannered with vast fire and with death. 



The mountain monsters and the Jo tuns shag, 
And Niflheim's enormous race uprise 
To rend the sceptered gods. 

FIRST WARRIOR 

Yet fear we not, 
Though men, to die when gods no more shall live. 

HALMAR 

Would, brothers, we might swing our swords with 

Thor 
To whelm the flame-land ogres ! Peace lies dead 
And the eight lordly rivers of the world 
Pour blood, and withered is the Tree of Life. 
Heaven's castles and its gilded ramparts bright 
Are broken, and to ash their splendor falls, 
And the red rains drop down the cloven sky. 

FIRST WARRIOR 

Yet fiercely leaps this hard and haggard steel , 
And smoulders in the fallow glare of doom! 

(The glow grows greater.) 

ALL (in monotone) 

O Baldur! O shield us! 

HALMAR 

Here let us sit 
Fast by this board, piled with our last brave f ast! 
Mute and unmoving let us sit with swords 
Of stubborn edge and shields of sullen front 
And wait the end. 

ALL (in monotone) 

O Baldur! O shield us! 



-^"l- 



HALMAR (to trees) 

O Lords of all the Westland woods, the Dusk 
That whelms the gods, shall make you suns of noon! 
Lift up your funeral beacons and huge brands! 
Your torches tall to light Earth's end and Heaven's 
And the sea's broken deeps ! 

FIRST WARRIOR 

Then shall ye fall 
Down toppling to the gnashing fangs of flame 
To build our pyres. 

(The glow grows greater. The voice of the Peasant rings 
from the woods) 

VOICE OF THE PEASANT 

O fly! the Helbeast comes! 
O Masters, fly! 

(Rushes in full of terror, dishevelled and stained with 
dust, a Peasant, He wrings his hands and falls on his 
knees before Halmar.) 

HALMAR 

What hath the night spewed forth? 
Rise, bondman, speak thy tidings, though of dread. 

PEASANT 

O horror! masters, horror! all is lost! 

The land lies blasted! all the hills are hearths 

Of coals! his breath of poison rots the air — 

The fields he blights and blows the cattle dead; 

The earthquake marks the trampling of his steps ! 

Mad fire paves his path ! Before his feet the meads 

Lie green — all black behind. The villages 

Are heaps of ashes and the mangled flesh 

Of dead men chokes the ground ! on roads of blood 

The monster winds and runs. 



HALMAR 

What monster, tell! 

PEASANT 

Nidhugg! From out the smoking sea he rose 
And lay upon the strand and shook his scales, 
And bellowed like a bull. Three leagues his length 
Rolled armed with claw and crest. Then heard I 

call 
The voice of Loki from the burning sward 
That redly flamed, while all the sea burned green; 
"Nidhugg, art here?"and thrice the dragon droned: 
"Aye, father, at thy call thy son hath come." 

HALMAR 

It is not Ragnarok ! the gods still live 
In old Valhalla, still for us, their sons, 
Their hearts are lit with mercy. Berserks all ! 
Arouse and arm 'gainst Loki and his son! 

(Loki appears half way up the hill. He holds a spiked 
mace in his hand.) 

LOKI 

Accursed brood of men! I send 

My hate on all! 
Soon shall my trusty Nidhugg wend 

Here at my call. 

Swift at my hest he crawls apace 

Straight to his sire. 
Here shall ye meet him face to face 

And taste his ire. 

Not Baldur's trees shall break or bar 

His lust for life. 
Since Gold, my ancient slave, did mar 

Your feast with strife. 



The trap I laid full well was set, 

And straight ye fell — 
So now in you Woe's hag shall get 

Her glut in Hel. 

On Loki gaze! who hears you shriek! 

On Baldur cry! 
Then curse your helpless god and weak, 

And cursing, die! 

HALMAR 

Hence, demon ! Know that Baldur's holy grove 
Stands proofed against thee and thy dragon foul 
As firm as stand our hearts, or cliffs that break 
The onset of the sea. 

(Loki vanishes) 

FIRST WARRIOR 

Arm! comrades, arm! 
Arm 'gainst the Worm! 

ALL (in monotone) 

O Baldur! O shield us! 

HALMAR 

Sons of the Westland, ye who know not fear, 
And who, unshaken all, heard Loki's boast. 
Lift your deep-dinted targes; let your glaives 
Unhumbled by long wars, now sap the gorge 
Of Hel's flame-spewing beast. Raise, Hilding, raise 
The prayer to Baldur who shall guide our steel ! 

HILDING (singing) 

Black grows the gloom that the demon has sown; 

Red are the flames and the skies in their glaring; 

Loki, the Evil, and Nidhugg unsparing 
Move on the forest that shelters thy throne. 



Sharpen the teeth of our swords and with anger 
Madden the spears that must thwart him and 
slay — 

Bide with us, Baldur, O bide with the clangor 
Of shields and the clash of the swords in the fray. 

ALL (singing) 

Baldur, O Baldur, aid us, O fairest 

Soul of the Summer and Heart of the Sun; 

Swing o'er thy grove the white staff that thou 
bearest — 
Baldur, O Baldur, O Beautiful One! 

(The glow breaks over the hill) 

HILDING (singing) 

Lord of the Light, shall the Beast of the Dark, 
Prey on the grove where thy children are calling ? 

The fangs of grim Nidhugg are iron — O hark ! 
Through oaks and through pines the foul monster 
is crawling ! 

(The crash of toppling trees is heard.) 

Spare us the wood that thy sons may be grateful, 
Spare us fair Midgard, O hearken our cry ! 

O Baldur, send bane upon Nidhugg the hateful — 
O bring us the peace that Earth knoweth theeby ! 

ALL (singing) 

Baldur, O Baldur, aid us, O fairest 

Soul of the Summer and Heart of the Sun; 

Swing o'er thy grove the white staff that thou 
bearest — 
Baldur, O Baldur, Beautiful One! 

(As the Prayer ends, the foreground grows ever darker, 



-x,\ 



he glow on the hill ever brighter. The Dragon Nidhugg 
is seen crawling down, belching white mist and fire. He 
appears and disappears on his path. When the Prayer 
closes and the Dragon has almost reached the level 
ground, appears on a rocky crag jutting out on the left, 
the shining form of Baldur, He is armed with two long 
silver spears. Nidhugg darts his fiery breath at him. 
The god casts one of the spears at the monster, who dies. 
The Warriors who had retreated to both sides, advance 
again. Baldur leans upon his other spear, its point 
down, and smiles upon his Sons.) 

HALMAR 

O Mighty Master, O Hallowed Lord of loveliness 
and power, 
The Worm in his death-throes lieth and his bale- 
fire groweth dim. 
Thou comest, O snow-white Asa, in the dark, doom- 
boding hour — 
The strength of Odin is with thee and the gods 
that are true to him. 

{The red glow vanishes utterly) 

Not yet the youngest day is born nor the oldest 
night is sped; 
The hidden Noms have woven hope through the 
murky woof of days; 
Still the god's twi-litten end is far and the dread- 
ful dream is fled; 
Hear thou, great god of the flow 'ring world, 
thy grateful children's praise! 

ALL {singing The Chant to Baldur) 

Thou art come, O god of the lily lance, and the 

dragon's day is done! 
And we who gathered for feasting, stand safe in 

thy beaming, O sun. 



Hail, Baldur, Son of great Odin — Hail, Baldur, 

Brother of Thor, 
Thy forest-fanes have peace of the Scourge and 

our hearts know joy once more. 

Till the Waves of Time have ceased to roll, till 

Earth in the flame-flood bum, 
When the tawny manes of the acres float on thy 

breath, to thee we turn 
A thousand and a thousand years, till the seas of 

the Uttermost West 
Shall soar in fire to the halls of the gods and the 

gods fall dispossesst. 

(Baldur raises his arm toward the hill where the lights 
of the White Elves are seen returning in joyous dance. 
Now a golden glow begins to light the woods.) 

Thou shalt bend our brows to Beauty's rule and 

her fairer, farther light; 
Our hearts shall be holpen by thought of thee and 

our brands be first in fight. 
Though the ashes of ages whelm our race, their 

fall shall be as snow 
From the hollow hands of the elder gods on Mid- 

gard's Land below. 

What realms that our dreams have builded, when 

the after-ages break 
From new stars blue as battle -blades, shall bless 

us for thy sake? 
That we kept thy flame alive in hearts that beat 

by the Western Sea, 
Hearts spent by the thunder-throated Thor that 

lift their thanks to thee. 

(Baldur stretches out his long white lance from whose 
end white flowers fall.) 



*i.'*», 



From the strife of the spUntered war-shafts, with 

bleeding hands and numb, 
The shards of our broken souls we bring when to 

thy shrine we come, 
There the wine of our veins is blent with balm thy 

hands of healing pour 
When thy Summer smiles in gladness on this 

golden, sunset shore. 

(The white and golden radiance covers the hillside behind 
Baldur. With his sun-shield and white spear leaning 
against his shoulder, he stretches out his arms in blessing 
over his Sons who lift on high their swords, spears and 
shields.) 

For ever in lands of the Western Men where the 

happy Earth is young, 
O Baldur, thy yearly feast be held and thy yearly 

tale be sung! 
So new sons, when the mould hath covered us, may 

seek and still worship thee, 
And thy woodland halls may hoard our songs 

in the dawn of the days to be. 

(Baldur vanishes slowly but the glory of light he has 
brought remains and floods the skies with its splendor. 
Here ends The Sons of Baldur and commences the 
Cremation of Care. The head of the Dragon has 
meanwhile been severed by the swords of the Warriors, 
and is now borne to the sunken glade where follows, as of 
old, the Burning of Care, embodied in Nidhugg.) 




SYNOPSIS OF THE MUSIC 

The Overture to "The Sons of Baldur" is a tonal 
sketch of the play. It is composed from the different 
themes and motifs sung by the soloists and choruses, 
and serves to put the audience in the proper mood for 
the play itself. 

The Sons of Baldur, an imaginary Norse Tribe, 
symbolical of the Bohemians, return from the battle and 
foregather in the woods for the yearly feast, held in 
honor of Baldur, the god of Summer and of Good. This 
comprises the opening musical number. After a short 
introduction played by the orchestra, the chorus, as it 
marches, renders its introductory song, a sort of battle 
chant. 



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The feast begins and the Second Warrior, an embodi- 
ment of the joy of living, sings a drinking song: 



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The Third Warrior introduces a sweeter and more 
sensuous note. "In wine he finds small pleasure, he sings 
the Song of Love:" 



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After the two Warriors' songs, Halmar, the Chief of 
the Westlanders, suggests a toast to their gods and to 
their ancient fathers, who now rest and feast with Odin. 

The Dying Warrior, a type of the man who goes down 
in the struggle of Ufe, but bravely, "with sword in hand," 
now responds to the challenge and sings the Song of the 
Dying: 



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The serenity of the feast is interupted by a fierce 
fight among certain Warriors over a clump of gold, 
which had been dropped by Loki, the god of Evil, for the 
purpose of breeding dissension. Halmar steps in and 
separates the fighting warriors. The men gather once 
more around the tables. The convivial Second Warrior 
expresses his world-wise sentiments with the following 
little song accompanied by the Chorus of Warriors: 



ALLEGRETTO 



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Hilding, a famous Skald, appears among the feasting 
warriors and entertains them with his inspiring and 
lofty variations upon the three eternal themes of Wine, 
Woman and Song. Hilding's songs are written in the 
"Rondo" form, each verse carrying a different theme 
with the repeated themes of the respective choruses. 
The Song of Wine begins with a Recitative and is 
built upon the following theme: 






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The Song of Wine is followed by the Song of Woman : 



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This is succeeded by the Song of the Sagas: 



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All three of the songs indicated above have the 
same "Hail" refrain, which is sung by the chorus at the 
close of each verse: 



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At this stage the action of the play changes, and fear 
and terror seize upon the feast. The skies redden and 
the Soothsayer announces the coming of Ragnarok, the 
Twilight of the Gods. This, however, turns out to be only 
the approach of the Dragon Nidhugg, sent by Loki to 



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destroy the woods and the worshippers. The Warriors, 
urged on by Halmar, arm against Nidhugg. Halmar 
beseeches Hilding to lift a prayer to Baldur in order 
that he may save them from the dreaded monster. 
Hilding raises his voice and invokes the god: 



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Baldur appears in response to the prayer of Hilding 
and slays the Dragon with his lance. Hereupon, the 
whole tribe, delivered from the evil, gives thanks to 
Baldur in the final hym: 



MAESTOSI 




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This hymn is completed by a joyous triumphal 
march at the moment the dead dragon is borne down 
stage by the warriors in the procession of the Burial 
of Care. 



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ARTHUR WEISS. 



®l|0 Olr^mattnn 
0f Olar^ 




THE CREMATION OF CARE 

The High Priest ''Uncle George'' T. Bromley 

Second High Priest : . , Ernest S. Simpson 

Poem, ''Sans SoucV. . .General Lucius Harwood Foote 
Declaimed by Dr. J. Wilson Shiels. 

Oration Second High Priest 

Quartette "Embers'' 

Words and Music by Joseph D. Redding. 

Ed. Crandall, E. H. McCandlish, A. W. Sperry, 

Dr. H. P. Carlton. 

Benediction Second High Priest 



LIBRARY OF pONGRESS 
018 407 683 4 




Pres- of Tf- :)«nstn Co., - f. 



